Defensive armament

Usage in battles

The Do 17 Z-7 is the first twin-engine heavy fighter that is unlocked in a long line of German "Zerstörer" (German for "Heavy fighter") aircraft. Like all of its successors, the Do 17 Z-7 is a full-bred Boom & Zoom fighter, through and through. This means the Do 17 should, under any circumstances always strive to maintain an altitude advantage over enemy aircraft. Utilise the potential energy to dive on them and make a high speed pass while firing, then quickly make an escape. There is however, a couple of caveats for the Do 17 Z-7 that is worth considering when flying it. For starters, its energy retention and climb rate are mediocre at best. Immediately making a 2nd pass will generally be a bad idea, as it will attract a lot planes with ample opportunity to return fire. Instead, utilise the high air speed from the dive to gain as much horizontal distance from enemy planes as possible before starting to climb. Also, remember to never commit to chasing after a specific plane since the plane will lose too much speed and energy in doing so. Pick out a target from high altitude, roll over and dive down in a vertical position as soon as possible, in order to maximize the altitude-speed trade off. When at first possible moment get a gun solution on the target, and once the solution is lost, level the plane out and speed away at high speed, potentially destroying other players that may cross the path along the way with the same principle.

The Do 17 Z-7's primary source of damage comes with its single 20 mm MG 151 cannon. While not spitting as much lead downrange as the Bf 110's dual MG FF/M's do. It makes up for it by having access to the MG 151's air target belt, which contains a lot more minengeschoß, which is highly effective against unarmoured planes, which the Do 17 Z-7 will regularly face. While the MG 15's also can do some damage to biplanes, any aware fighter pilot will be able to move away from the gun sight and end up on the Do 17's tail, if solely using the machine guns.

Counter-tactics

The best way to deal with this plane is to fly fast and aim for the engines. Don't tail right behind the plane because then the gunner will have an easy target. If tailing behind the plane, dip down a little bit, the gunner at the top won't be able to hit the plane this way and the gunner at the bottom is pointed down to much. At this battle rating, there are a lot of newer players, who most likely haven't put crew xp into the gunners vitality. If the gunners are taken out, then the plane is a flying duck. Avoid a head-on at all cost, it has armour at the front and a 20 mm cannon which will shred any plane to bits. This plane cannot turn fight, if it's behind tailing the plane, then simply turn sharply to one direction. If in a bomber it's best to aim for the engines and not the cockpit, the cockpit has 58 mm of armour angled, it would be difficult for bullets to go through and snipe the pilot.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements

Mixer

Pitch

Radiator

Supercharger

Turbocharger

Oil

Water

Type

Not controllable

ControllableAuto control available

Not controllableNot auto controlled

Not controllableNot auto controlled

Separate

Controllable2 gears

Not controllable

Modules

Tier

Flight performance

Survivability

Weaponry

I

Fuselage repair

Radiator

Offensive 7 mm

II

Compressor

Airframe

Turret 7 mm

EHVC 500

III

Wings repair

Engine

New 7 mm MGs

Offensive 20 mm

IV

Engine injection

Cover

New 7 mm MGs (turret)

New 20 mm cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

Exclusively nose-mounted armament, resulting in very little need for convergence

Can take a lot of machine gun fire before going down

Armed with an 20 mm MG 151, capable of using the air targets belt, giving the plane absolutely devastating firepower

2 x rear gunners for covering both above and below the aircraft

Cons:

Mediocre climb rate at best when upgraded

Slow even when upgraded (Hurricanes will be able to outrun it in level flight)

Horrible roll rate

Overall poor handling characteristics

Lousy energy retention

Best performs as a Boom & Zoom aircraft, although its poor flight characteristics makes it inefficient at it

Defensive armament has poor coverage and does not produce enough stopping power to reliably fend of attacking enemies

Tends to burst into flames

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === Encyclopedia Info ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example: